Myanmar opponents reject bomb claims

BANGKOK - Opponents of the military regime in Myanmar (Burma) have denied they were behind three bomb blasts that killed 11 people and wounded 162, blaming junta infighting for the country's worst attacks in two decades. 

State media accused three ethnic rebel groups and an exiled pro-democracy group of "terrorist acts" against two busy shopping malls and a trade centre on Saturday in the capital, Yangon.  

The groups rejected the charge and said the violence may be linked to last October's purge of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt and reports of a power struggle in the secretive military leadership.  

Saturday's bombs were hidden inside bags and triggered by timers, the New Light of Myanmar reported. State television showed footage of shattered windows and debris at Yangon's trade centre where crowds had gathered for a Thai exhibition.  

"I heard the explosion and all the glass shattered around me. Everyone started running," one witness told reporters in Bangkok after 128 Thais, including two wounded, were evacuated from Yangon on a Thai C-130 military transport plane on Sunday. 

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called the incident an internal affair for Myanmar and he did not believe Thais were specifically targeted. 

In Yangon, police armed with light weapons and truncheons patrolled the capital on Sunday, while shocked residents gathered at Yangon's famed Shwedagon pagoda to pray for the bomb victims.  

"Today all the people here are filled with sorrow, shock and shame," said U Ba Tin, a retired government employee. "I never expected such a cruel thing to happen in our society". 

But Colonel Yod Suek of the Shan State Army, one of the groups blamed for the nearly simultaneous attacks, said: "The accusation by the government against the rebel groups is a joke.  

"The reason for the bombs is a conflict of interest within senior officials of the army and has to do with the ousting of Khin Nyunt."  

The military, which has ruled the former Burma in various forms since 1962, accused the Karen National Union, Karenni National Progressive Party, and Shan State Army of colluding to undermine the state and disrupt "peace and tranquillity". 

It also named the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), which leads a government in exile after the military rejected the 1990 election victory by democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest in Yangon. 

"We are undergoing a non-violent struggle toward democracy and we totally reject the accusation and condemn whoever is behind these bombs," Sann Aung, an NCGUB leader, said in Bangkok.  

"We don't know exactly who was behind it. The regime may have caused this bomb blast and then blamed the opposition," he said.  

A Thai army official also questioned the rebel theory, saying the bombs might have been the work of allies of Khin Nyunt, who was removed amid charges of corruption within his Military Intelligence unit, which had extensive business interests.  

"There is a high possibility that this is an internal power struggle involving the group that lost power. They could be causing trouble to attract attention, but we don't think they can do enough to topple the government," said the official. 

- REUTERS